‘Someone is going to die on the field’

In his new book which exposes the physical dangers of rugby like no other, Bernard Jackman hits the nail on the head about the dangers of concussion

Bernard Jackman never played against South Africa but in a sense it’s appropriate that his autobiography should hit the shelves the week they are in town. For no rugby team deals in physical brutality quite like the Springboks, and no rugby book has exposed the physical dangers of professional rugby quite like Jackman’s.

The recently-retired hooker goes so far as to say he fears a player will die from the effects of multiple concussions before the sport takes significant steps to protect the players from themselves. “It’s a time bomb,” Jackman said last week. “Someone is going to die on the field, or die afterwards, because of a concussion-related injury. It’s an increasingly physical sport and there are so many people playing week on week with concussion, and getting compound concussions, which are serious. When you’re playing, you don’t want to read about it. It might stop you going full-on.